Religion and Language as Basis of Armenian Identity

For two months now, an amendment into the Law on Language and Education, which provides for the establishment of foreign language schools in a country with 97% Armenian population, has been keeping the political elite and the entire society on tenterhooks. The amendment has split society into two far from equal groups. The supporters of the draft insist that the foreign language schools will meet all international standards, which in fact puts Armenian schools into a humiliating position, resulting in even more severe disaffection. The author of the law, the Minister for Education and Science of Armenia and member of the ruling party, Armen Ashotyan, found himself the target of scalding criticism, despite the support of President Serzh Sargsyan and his fellow party members.

The draft of the bill has consolidated almost all opposition political forces and the intellectual elite against it. According to them, establishing foreign language schools threatens the most essential aspect of sovereignty - education in the national language, as the language is the basis of national identity. The opposition to the bill is also worried by further splits in society, as the fees for these foreign language schools will be nowhere near generally accessible enough. Thus, an action group has been created - "We are against foreign language schools opening".

They cite the reasons for the law given by its supporters, for example that the languages of the Internet are English and Russian and that these schools will provide more opportunities for intercultural communication, as justifying suspicions that this initiative is promoted from outside the country.

The public opposition to the law has determined its negative dynamics. Originally the draft provided for establishing 30 foreign language schools, but in the end this number was reduced twice, moreover 40% of the educational process will consist of subjects taught in the Armenian language. Anyway, these changes were not enough to switch public opinion in any positive direction. Meanwhile, there is information that the ruling coalition and opposition have reached an agreement and the law can pass the vote, in which case education in a foreign language will be implemented only for the students of the 10th grade.

In general, it is obvious that the initiative has failed to succeed.

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK..